MOULTRIE, Ga. — Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) honored its finalists and the respective institutional winners of the 2017 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL), the Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education (EAGLE), and the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Education on Jan. 24 at the Southwest Georgia Bank Conference Center in Moultrie.

“The annual awards luncheon is an opportunity for us to celebrate our college’s ‘Best of the Best.’ We are very proud of the nominees, finalists, and winners of the SRTC Adult Education EAGLE Student of the Year, GOAL Student of the Year (credit program), and Rick Perkins Award of Excellence Instructor of the Year Awards. These students and faculty are to be applauded and commended for their academic and teaching endeavors as well as their contributions to the college and community. We wish each of them the best of luck as they move forward to compete in their respective categories at the regional and state levels,” commented SRTC President Craig Wentworth.

The three awards represent excellence in their respective areas of technical and adult education. GOAL competition begins during the Fall semester, when technical college instructors across Georgia identify their most promising students and nominate them for GOAL based on academic achievement and personal leadership. This year’s winner was Jimmy Smith of Thomasville who is enrolled in the Business Management program. The other three finalists were Daniel Badger (Associate of Science in Nursing), Logan South (Criminal Justice), and Brittany Taylor (Early Childhood Care and Education).

For the sixth consecutive year SRTC-Tifton will host the regional GOAL competition on February 21st. Winners representing Albany Tech, Bainbridge College’s technical division, Coastal Pines Technical College, Savannah Tech, South Georgia Tech, and Wiregrass Georgia Tech will compete for three available state finalist positions from within the region.

A statewide winner will be selected at the state GOAL competition in Atlanta in April and will travel the state for a full year on behalf of Georgia’s Technical College System. Georgia based automaker Kia will donate a 2017 year model vehicle to the state’s winner.

The EAGLE Program celebrates adult learners in pursuit of excellence. The program recognizes and honors students who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in statewide adult education classes. Adult Education teachers in public, private, and grantee agencies nominate students at the local program level to participate in the EAGLE recognition program at the state level. Selection criteria include student character, attitude, attendance, leadership and community involvement and activities.

Every EAGLE delegate is considered an ambassador and spokesperson for literacy serving local communities and the state by promoting lifelong learning. This year’s winner, Ashley Spears of Ashburn, will represent the local program at the state EAGLE Leadership Institute in Atlanta.

The Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction honors the Technical College System of Georgia’s most outstanding instructors. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991 and is designed to recognize technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their respective fields. Formerly known as the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence, the award was renamed in honor and memory of Thomas “Rick” Perkins, an instructor at West Central Technical College, who received the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence prior to his untimely passing. The Technical College System of Georgia provides oversight for the Rick Perkins Award program through the system’s office, the college presidents’ Academic Affairs Committee, and the state planning committee. The winner of this year’s award is Tammy Bryant. Mrs. Bryant is the Associate of Science in Nursing Program Chair and teaches full-time on the Thomasville Campus. Other finalists for this award were Michael Young (Program Chair, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Moultrie), Ubaldo Gonzalez (Program Chair, Industrial Systems Technology, Tifton), and John McFarland (Carpentry Faculty, Colquitt County High School).